A father-of-two, whose daughter survived a rare and aggressive childhood cancer, is in training for the London Marathon to help others battling the disease.

Trevor Darnes, 55, a senior environmental health officer at Fenland District Council, is taking on the 26.2 mile challenge for the first time in April in aid of children’s cancer charity Neuroblastoma UK.

Trevor’s daughter Ashleigh was diagnosed with stage four Neuroblastoma in 1999 when she was two-years-old.

She had a tumour which had wrapped itself around her left kidney and cancerous cells had spread throughout her spine, pelvis and upper legs.

She endured months of high dose chemotherapy treatment and had surgery to remove the tumour and left kidney. This was followed by stem cell treatment and further chemotherapy to kill off the cancerous spread.

“Against all the odds Ashleigh survived and is now a beautiful 21-year-old,” said Trevor. “Sadly the prognosis for children with stage four Neuroblastoma is poor, with the five year survival rate being around 40-50 per cent.”

Not many people will have heard of Neuroblastoma, he said, but may remember little football fan Bradley Lowery’s fight against the disease in the media.

Sunderland fan Bradley captured the hearts of many, including professional footballer Jermaine Defoe, but despite a long and brave battle against the cancer, died in July 2017 at the age of six.

Trevor said: “Neuroblastoma UK is a small charity run by volunteers and all money raised goes into research to find better treatments. “Hopefully, one day, there will be a cure for this devastating disease.”